Beaufort Christmas service opens arms to those who have experienced loss

A community service next month will open its doors to those coping with loss during the holiday season.

Baptist Church of Beaufort will host the “Longest Night” service at 6 p.m. on Dec. 22. The name is a nod to the winter solstice, which marks the shortest day of the year.

The service will welcome those who experienced the death of a loved one, a divorce, job loss, property destruction from Hurricane Matthew or any other particularly difficult situation. Those who attend are encouraged to bring a memento.

“It’s a hard time,” Baptist Church of Beaufort pastor Jim Wooten said. “Everybody is supposed to be festive and happy. When you’ve had a loss, you feel it more intensely.”

Similar services have been conducted at other churches, but Wooten had not heard of one held in Beaufort, he said. The service will include a scripture reading and hymn.

Anyone is welcome.

“It's not just our church we’re trying to reach,” Wooten said. “We know people have a tough time at Christmas.”

Looking for box scores and other late results in print format?

We've got you covered if you're looking for box scores and other late sports results that missed the printed newspaper because of early deadlines.

One option is to click the icons above for sports scores and stats from our partners at Stats.com. If you prefer traditional print agate, our Sports Extra pages, formatted like traditional printed sports results, are for you.